We have been discussing for the past few days and weeks how the Iowa State Fair is a showcase for agriculture, which happens to be the state’s leading industry. Iowa Ag Secretary Mike Naig always calls it the “Super Bowl of Iowa Agriculture.” As I sit here writing this, I am not fifty feet from the newly crowned “Super Bull.” Whether people are directly involved in agriculture or not, they make the pilgrimage to the barns each year to see the animals. It doesn’t matter if they are the state’s biggest or not. There is a lot to learn in these barns.
Hard work in agriculture doesn’t just begin and end with the barns at the state fairgrounds. We recognize the hard work done by Iowa farmers all year round.
Ag Secretary Mike Naig stopped by the Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network Shed this morning to talk about the many ways we celebrate Iowa’s farm families for hard work and responsibility. A responsibility that starts with the environment around them. Often, those outside farming like to loudly point out what farmers could be doing better. However, at the Iowa State Fair, we celebrate just as loudly the work being done to protect the water, air, and soil that our crops need to grow.
Farmers also work to provide the food we eat, the clothes we wear, and so much more. Choose Iowa is a program we have followed for a few months, and Secretary Naig talks about its presence at the State Fair, and how you can vote on the best Choose Iowa fair food.
No matter what part of agriculture we honor, we must go back to the most important piece of agriculture in the state, longevity. That is why we honor the century and heritage farms in this state. Naig talks about the honor this is. It means that these farms are not only doing the right thing today but have been adapting to do the right thing for more than a century or a century and a half. That means that as the “right thing” has evolved, these farms have consistently adjusted to do what needed to be done to move the family farm into the hands of the next generation.
Follow the Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network over the next few days, as we bring you the stories of Iowa Agriculture at the Iowa State Fair.
